WWW.ROADAHEAD.COM.AU
THE ROAD AHEAD DEC 2011/JAN 2012
8
COMMUNITY RACQ FOUNDATION
THE IMPACT OF Queensland's flood
disaster was not just a physical one.
As the flood waters receded, they left
behind not only a massive cleanup, but
emotional devastation for communities
affected.
One of the regional centres worst
hit by repeated floods was the central
Queensland town of Emerald, home to
more than 14,000 people.
The town was isolated by water by
December 29 and declared a disaster
zone, but the worst was still to come as,
by January 3, 80 per cent of the city was
inundated either from flooding of the
Nogoa River or stormwater runoff.
One of the town's essential
community services affected by the
flooding was the Emerald Preschool and
Community Kindergarten.
Established in 1955, the non-profit
community-based centre offers
educational programs to children
aged 3½ and five years, servicing
approximately 90 families in Emerald
and surrounding rural communities of
Gindie, Comet and Capella.
While the centre was lucky not to
experience the same level of physical
devastation as many around them,
the relentless rain and flash flooding
washed away its playground's bark
soft fall system and ruined the timber
structures, leaving them with cracks and
timber splits, making the whole area
dangerous for the children.
Louise McDonald, the centre's
committee president and mother of
three, said that the emotional impact of
the flooding on the Emerald community
had been immense and ongoing with
many families still waiting for their
homes to be fixed.
"Our house went under by 80 cm,
with many others up the end of our
street under by one metre or more," Mrs
McDonald said. "We were homeless for
six months and there are still others
waiting for their homes to be fixed."
Mrs McDonald said the flood and its
aftermath had taken a big toll on the
small community, with not many people
escaping unscathed during what were
months of continued rain and floods.
"Everyone has a story to tell," Mrs
McDonald said.
The McDonalds lived in temporary
accommodation while their house was
repaired, a familiar story for many other
families attending the centre.
These changes to family life had been
difficult for the kindy-aged children
to cope with; many struggling to
understand what had happened, why
they couldn't go back to their homes
and continuing to be frightened when it
rains.
In its position as educator to these
children, the centre had a big role to
a playful recovery
RACQ Foundation has helped to put the smiles back on the
faces of flood-affected children at an Emerald kindergarten.
STORY BELINDA PETERS